Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin began Monday’s loose morning skate with what NBC Sports Washington’s Tarik El-Bashir termed a “hot lap.” Ovechkin skated around the PPG Paints Arena rink solo as his teammates banged their sticks on the ice and against the boards, cheering and laughing.

According to El-Bashir, Capitals fourth-line center Jay Beagle does the hot lap on the day of games, but Ovechkin requested to do so in his place.

Beagle normally takes the hot lap to start the morning skate. But Ovi took it from him today. “If the big guy wants it, he gets it,” Beagle cracked.

Beyond being funny, the Ovechkin hot lap has symbolism here to consider. Taking the lap from the team’s perceived hardest worker, Ovechkin perhaps wanted to set the tone for the day and show the team he’s not above doing the little things to win.

“It’s just fun,” Ovechkin said. “That’s why we work so hard all year to be in this position. Obviously you want to move first round, second round, third, and fourth. It’s hard. It’s a big challenge for us, especially against Pittsburgh. There’s always a lot of attention to this series, and it’s fun.”